Major winter storm ready to hit South, Midwest, East Coast
A powerful winter storm is predicted to overwhelm tens of millions of people in the central, southern and eastern US with snow, ice, wind and rain in the coming days. The Weather Channel, which has named the storm Winter Storm Izzy, said the sprawling storm is likely to cause “major travel headaches” from North Dakota to northern Georgia and into Maine. The first area to see snow is Friday in the upper Midwest, where winter storm warnings have been issued by the National Weather Service. A broad swath of 6 to 12 inches of snowfall is expected to span the eastern Dakotas to western Minnesota and Iowa. Cities like Minneapolis, Des Moines, St. Louis, and Kansas City are all in the storm’s path. On Friday and Saturday “there will likely be difficult driving conditions in this region as the roads get snowy.”
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Djokovic faces deportation as Australia revoke his visa
Novak Djokovic is being expelled again after the Australian government revokes his visa for a second time, the latest twist in the ongoing saga over whether the number 1 ranked men’s tennis player will be allowed to compete in the Australian Open, despite not being vaccinated for COVID – 19. Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said on Friday that he used his ministerial discretion to revoke the 34-year-old’s visa for reasons of public interest – just three days before the match starts at the Australian Open, where Djokovic set a record number of has won nine of his 20 Grand Slam titles. Djokovic’s lawyers had to appeal, which they successfully did on procedural grounds last week after his visa was first revoked when he arrived in Melbourne. But immigration attorney Kian Bone told the Associated Press that Djokovic’s lawyers face an “extremely difficult” task to get court orders to let their client play next week.
Child tax credit will not arrive on bank accounts on Friday
For the first time in six months, families go Friday without a monthly child tax credit down payment — a program that was intended to be part of President Joe Biden’s estate but has instead emerged as a flashpoint over who the government is worth support. McClatchy notes that those payments typically went out on the 15th of each month, starting in July. The sixth payment was sent on December 15. But families will not see the payments on January 15. The tax cuts were part of Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package — and the president had proposed extending them for another full year. But Senator Joe Manchin, DW.Va., objected to lending over concerns that the money would discourage people from working and that any additional federal spending would fuel inflation that has already soared to a nearly 40-year high. Manchin’s opposition in the evenly divided Senate derailed Biden’s social spending package and caused the expanded tax credits due to expire this month.
Center for COVID Control test sites to ‘pause’ all operations for 1 week
The Center for COVID Control will suspend all activities at their test sites for a week starting Friday. The nationwide coronavirus testing company is under a civil investigation by the Oregon Department of Justice on suspicion of violations of the Unfair Trade Practices Act, and dozens of people across the country have contacted USA TODAY to raise concerns about the company to express. At least two people have filed complaints about the Center for COVID Control’s testing sites, raising concerns about the sites’ safety and legitimacy, claiming the sites offer “fake testing.” One said they had been given a test that had its label expired in June 2021. In an internal company memo addressed to “all location owners and managers” and obtained by USA TODAY, the Center for COVID Control called “heightened surveillance by the media on the operations of our collection sites” over the past week. The hiatus is expected to last until January 21.
First Lady Jill Biden Visits Kentucky To Investigate Tornado Damage
With last week’s blizzards gone, First Lady Jill Biden has finalized plans to visit Kentucky and survey areas damaged by last month’s deadly tornado outbreak. Biden will travel to Bowling Green, Kentucky on Friday, with plans to visit the hard-hit Creekwood neighborhood before speaking with Deputy FEMA Administrator Erik Hooks and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. Four tornadoes hit Kentucky on the night of December 10, killing 77 and leaving a trail of destruction through the western part of the state. Bowling Green, home to Western Kentucky University and the third largest city in the state, was badly affected, with 17 deaths recorded in the county. Biden had planned to visit Kentucky on January 6, but postponed the trip after the weather forecast predicted snow storms across the state.
Contributions: The Associated Press